


The Vagabond Crew

by StephanieStephanie



Series: Savior of Younglings [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Canon Divergence - Order 66, Control Chips, Crafts, Droids, Droids Are Awesome, Fix-It, Gen, Hiding in Plain Sight, Jedi, Mace Windu Lives, Mind Control, More Jedi Live In General, Order 66, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Anakin Skywalker, So Do The Younglings, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 18,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26978866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephanieStephanie/pseuds/StephanieStephanie
Summary: Anakin doesn't Fall and makes off with a huge bunch of Initiates and Padawans of various ages during Order 66.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Droids
Series: Savior of Younglings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968883
Comments: 285
Kudos: 698
Collections: New SW Canon Server Works





	1. Droids Are Awesome

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Water Rose, ProbablyCackling, Spookypunkunicorn, Jane0Doe and ChaoticNeutral on Discord for their help brainstorming this.

It wasn’t a well known fact, but the general droid population of the Jedi Temple had become a little bit Anakin’s personal fiefdom through the years of care, upgrades and modifications he made on them. Save a few in the Councillors quarters and the ones mechanic and coding were learned on, as long as it didn’t disturb a mission, they all could communicate between each other and with him as much as they wanted. Jedi believed in letting their technological helpers develop their own personalities, and so the changes stayed and grew with time.

While their Mechanic was away fighting, they helped progressing and finishing many of his projects, be they information gathering, security protocols, safety drills, or building and modding to hell and back a multigenerational family sized ship as a defensible moving home because the design just wouldn’t leave him alone and the Force felt good yet oddly urgent about it. Maybe it would end up being useful in a refugee situation? They refused to officially name it until it was finished.

Before he even entered the Council Chamber to warn them of Darth Sidious' true identity, supplementary security measures and escape routes were already made ready and put in fonction through the Order home. By the time Mace Windu was thrown out of a window, appropriate ships were being supplied as well as they could be for what might be a long travel and otherwise ready for departure. When the mind controlled slave army reached the first Sentinels guarding their home front doors, nursery droids were already sending their charges and the Initiates to the hangars with their lone bag of useful worldly possessions. Half way through the invasion, the few Padawans who weren’t on the front of the war were buckling their seat belts, the ones from the Archives having snatched the holocrons from the Vault on their way.

When Anakin’s project, barely finished, let alone registered in the Temple database, first took flight, it was with droid manned ships protecting its escape and hiding it from sight, no holos were taken or left of it, all recognisable enregistrements having been erased before its departure. It left with a classroom and half worth of younglings, a handful of Padawans, a single Knight and a few determined droids of various skill sets on board.

Because they would always be on the move, just like Obi-Wan said his brother always was, they named their new home The Vagabond. 

The survivors who escaped after, each with their own squad of metallic friends, made sure to pick different directions from them to augment their chances. 


	2. What Do We Have?

Once the children calmed down a bit, the first thing Anakin had them do was to make an inventory of what they had to work with inside the ship. The droids had done an amazing job at furnishing and supplying it considering how little warning they had at the time, but the result still remembered of a just acquired appartement whose moving boxes hadn’t been opened yet. You could immediately see the difference between what came from the Quartermaster storerooms and what was shoved in as a last minute effort to give them as many resources to leave with as possible. It would take a while to sort through the mess, but right now anything was better than thinking about what must be happening back on Coruscant and in the rest of the galaxy. 

Thirty-six younglings, seven droids (three mouses, two astromechs, a medical, and a nursery), five teenage aged Padawans and one Knight in his early twenties on an unregistered ship made from customized scraps the Temple had in storage, repurposed parts from crashed ships he had collected through the years and a probably illegal high tech learning AI with not nearly as many limits as one would assume at first glance wired everywhere. 

A month's worth of ration bars for those with no particular dietary needs and roughly two weeks of appropriate supplements for the others, thankfully nothing difficult or expensive to get if you knew where and when to shop. He would have to ask the others to verify, being near-human could bring interesting surprises. Only a week worth of water, but the three refreshers all had sonic showers and the recycling system was top notch, so no problems here yet either. 

Medical supplies were probably alright as far as field healing and domestic use go, with an actual if tiny fully stocked infirmary, what appeared to be twelve fighter ships worth of emergency kits, plus four gallons of pure bacta and two surgeon tool kits the medic must have brought from Master Che domain. Anything possibly needing more beside vaccines and the like was unacceptable in their situation anyway.

Clothes, well, everyone beside himself had a bag of spares, all of sturdy make and all perfectly recognizable as being Jedi in origin as they were. He would have to rework the whole lot, hopefully he wasn't the only one here with sewing skills beyond patch jobs. If he wanted them to be able to go out, waterproof makeup and some dyes were dearly needed. You couldn't always hide your face with a hood after all.

Buying things, all Jedi accounts were definitively out now. He always had a thousand credits in a chip on him just in case, so procuring the materials to disguise themselves was doable. The money he made gambling and during illegal podraces was still being progressively fuelled to his few fake identities through various means, checking on them as soon as possible was a must. If he setted it up right, no official would look twice at the ID of citizens from one of the devastated Mid Rim planets trying to build new lives for themselves with what little they had left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone has any ideas about how many Jedi holocrons the two Archivist Padawans might have snatched on their way out and what types of knowledge might be inside them? I can't recall ever seeing a source material giving an estimation of the Vault contents.


	3. How To Start?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to ChaoticNeutral for giving her opinion on this chapter!

The thing with putting makeup on children's faces was that you couldn’t just use the same techniques as for adults without it looking incredibly suspicious and make people wonder what you were hiding with it. It also took way too long and couldn’t easily be done by other children without a lot of practice. Brightly colored cheap makeup used to make joyous motifs was a whole other story. Quite a few cultures used them, it showed up way more on holos than the usual contouring, effectively distracted from the shape of someone's face and would give the kids a fun activity to look forward to before going out. The higher quality stuff could hide The Hero With No Fear famous features and kept anonymous the teenagers who participated in the war effort. 

With new haircuts for the Padawans and the Jedi layers reworked and dyed in more eye-catching but less recognizable outfits, they looked like a group of youths with an obviously eccentric sense of style and not like people who had anything to hide, let alone Jedi. Anakin himself had taken to wearing hair clips and ties for now, maybe he would make himself buns once he had enough length to work with. 

Obis and braided beads were out, but perhaps once things were more settled they could use embroidery and leatherworking on belts to mark trials and learnings? Just because they could no longer safely look like Jedi didn’t mean all their traditions had to be thrown out, a little bit of adaptation and some could perfectly be still be respected in spirit, if not in appearance. It was bad enough that they could no longer go back to the Coruscanti Temple, let alone call it a refuge or their home.

The hands that snatched the eighteen holocrons they had from the Vault must have been blessed by the Force, because by a bunch of different time periods, all the main disciplines from the old Je'daii Temples seemed covered: Healing, both with and without the Force; Arts like writing, calligraphy, dancing, drawing, sculpture, cooking, music, and theater; Force Skills, which was enhancing and improving one's mental and sensory skills with the Force; Martial Arts, from weapon combat and other forms of combat; Science, including alchemy; Forge for learning the ways of the Force through metallurgy and the construction of tools and weapons, Balance through introspection and meditation; Knowledge, be it repositories or philosophy; and even, thank all the stars of the galaxy, teaching the basics of the Force to Initiates who had not yet reached the age to become a Padawan.

Oh dear, Anakin would have to craft nearly everything from scraps wouldn’t he? Adapting objects for another use was one thing, but they couldn’t just make trips for Illum’s kyber crystals or have access to storerooms full of parts to build new lightsabers anymore, and specialised teaching tools could be frightfully expensives. If he wanted to keep the kids safe on the ship, he would have to homeschool them. 


	4. Raw Materials

Anakin didn’t have the money to buy everything they needed, legally or not. He didn’t have the money to buy all the raw materials it would take to make everything they needed either. What he did have was the knowledge of places where no one looked too closely if a few thugs and their small gangs got wiped out by blaster fire, with all their possessions going missing. What criminal worth their salt complained about having less competition?

No one actively participating in the Black Market would blink at getting spices and weapons in payment. Especially these days with the way the value of republic credits kept diminishing because of the war costs. If he chose his targets right, he might even get rarer minerals and pieces of technology directly. The less respectable smugglers he planned to rob would have more detailed star maps of their region. Anyone he might pick was bound to have a few datapads and some water to siphon to augment their supply. No one under his protection would ever go thirsty if he could help it.

The ship had been barely finished with the essentials put in when Order 66 was given. It was space worthy and otherwise barely liveable. Only a single mattress in the whole thing and it was put there just in case he ended up having to pilot it before it was fully furnished. They had to use the packaging in the Quartermaster’s boxes to make the floor more comfortable for everyone to sleep on. Sands, the only rooms fully stocked on The Vagabond were the infirmary, the mechanic workshop and the freshers. If he stumbled upon a kitchen, he was stealing everything inside including the cutlery and the table if he could. This situation was unacceptable.

No child should ever sleep without a bed or a least some type of pillow under their head. They weren’t Padawans on a mission, they shouldn’t have to deal with such a thing. They didn’t break any laws; they shouldn’t have to be afraid of officials coming for them. They weren’t slaves, and no one should have a price on their heads merely for existing anyway.

For years, he had designed and redesigned this agglomeration of crashed ship leftovers with vivid visions of an entire extended family’s worth of children refugees haunting his mind. On the off chance that maybe one day it would be needed. He never thought it would be for the Jedi. He refused to have this place be somewhere you survived in. This would be a home, a home worth living for that could move them to safety when needed instead of being left behind; he would make it so.

It wouldn’t be an easy life, an Empire lead by someone he once called a friend was gunning for them using the mind-controlled bodies of his own men, but he would be damned if he couldn’t make it better for them. These children deserved more, and they would have it. He swore it.


	5. Furniture

Thankfully, none of the children had psychometry, things might have been a bit harder otherwise.

Durasteel chests doubled up as low tables with a lot of pillows of various sizes and shapes that could serve as either meditation mats, chairs or beds. All easily stacked, cleaned in the sonic washer and put away while clearing a space for another use. Diverse lamps were also disponible, some could fit in pockets, a few could hang on belts, others could be fixed in place and adjusted according to the working station they were in. More charging situations were available for their droid friends, Eynie, Minnie, Moo, Arten, Artify, Mcfee and Scanny. They even had some spare parts and supplementary tool bags in case they needed repairs.

The room they sparred and group meditated in was now equipped with a wall wide intelligent mirror made from a bunch of repurposed small screens, able to play back in real time what happened in front of it or any of the ship’s cameras. A little bit of Force Manipulation and repair liquid normally used to fill in cracks assured you could barely feel the joints while passing your fingers over them. A few holotables had ‘donated’ enough hardware to be able to project a star map over the whole place if one wanted to.

Robbing drug labs and counterfactor workshops helped them build the necessary to start chemistry and crafting classes. The variety of materials needed to make even knock off handbags meant that they could finally personalize and fix nearly everything fabric related on board. It also netted them a nice collection of handheld sonic cleaners, useful to get rid of dirty spots on otherwise fine clothes as well as assuring a more respectable look to things found in suspicious places.

A trio of tiny shoulder recording droids brought back from a group dealing in spying and blackmail took care of making close up holos of his hands for the lessons. Their names were Risk, Rock and Range. The first loved danger and decided to stick with him during his “fetch missions”, as the kids had started to call them. So now he even had up to date first person view instruction material for field training. The second little guy liked to stay still and discreet while working and the third’s camera was modified to have the same precision range as a sniper.

A slicer’s desk and software had found their home into what had been dubbed the Knowledge Room. Computers, screens, datapads, datachips, recordings, headsets, holoports, an ergonomic chair, a few bar stools, modulable tables and shelfs made from stolen wall panels all occupied it.

He had to cave in and buy kitchen appliances at the same time as the food supplies with the money made from selling off the chemicals and weapons he had found. Apparently, low level criminals couldn’t be trusted to eat and drink more than space rations, cheap alcohols, snacks, instant caff, reheated meals, fizzy sugary stuff and take out while on the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The droid population on "The Vagabond" is currently at ten members since the AI wired all over hasn't finished developping her own personality yet.  
> Eynie, Minnie and Moo are the mouse droids, Arten and Artify are the astromechs, Mcfee is the nanny and Scanny is the medic.


	6. Kyber Crystals

Anakin knew the Order valued tests and trials, but he still felt personally offended about what the holocron had just told him. Yes, trips to Illum were a good tradition and helped learn about yourself. Yes, it was highly unlikely that a minor, even Temple trained, would have the concentration and mastery of self needed to do it. Yes, it took the right materials and hours of meditation and Force applied pressure over several days to make one. Yes, it might take years for some his students to be able to create any. He was still pissed that it was only now, as a Knight, that he even learned that synthetic, custom, perfectly adjusted to your own Force Signature kyber crystals were a thing.

It was a vital piece of information! How many Jedi out there still thought it was crystal caves or nothing to obtain the most important and the rarest piece of their lightsaber? How many might die in the future, attempting to get one, by lack of any other choice? You literally couldn’t get one on the black market without being either a highly placed government official or a Crime Lord with deep pockets and money to burn! Abandoned Jedi Temples weren’t exactly better, if you already knew their locations, chances were someone else did too! You could heal the bleeding crystals in the Sith ones but considering what could befell people merely trying to get in, might as well give a go to the imperial controlled places!

He would find a way to adapt the technique to moving meditation if he had to! He would adapt the blasted thing to all the types of meditation in existence, creating dozens of kyber crystals if needed! Your weapon represented the difference between life and death depending of the situation! They could choose modified riffles, blasters, snipers and vibroblades if they wanted, but they would have means of defense attuned to them in the Force!

Sands! They might even be able to advance further in the Healing class if this worked well enough! Master Che certainly didn’t use the shiny rocks because they were pretty! Who knew how many tools and methods they might be involved in! Lightsabers could melt metal in an instant at their highest setting, something wider, milder and less transportable could probably make office of Forge if done right! They had barely scratched the surface of what the holocrons could teach them!

Damn it all! He had lived less cumulated years at the Temple than the oldest Padawan he oversaw the education of! He passed most of his time as a Knight as a General fighting in a war he was knighted early for! He didn’t even get to finish training Ahsoka and he had Obi-Wan help back then! What else did these children need that he should know about but didn’t? He was doing everything he could think of, but what if his best wasn’t enough?


	7. Looking Back

Mace still wasn’t sure if he should consider himself blessed or cursed by the Force. He survived their disastrous attempt at arresting the Chancellor for treason, but he was the only participating Councillor to do so. Affected by Sith Lightning as he was back then, the only reason he didn’t become a splatter on the ground after being defenestrated was a passing speeder belonging to a servant of the delegation of 2000 leaving the Senate in a hurry. Senator Amidala had told them to pack their bags and leave as soon as possible. Apparently, the Council hadn’t been the only people to get warned about Palpatine's true nature by Skywalker. 

Somehow, after Padawan Tano’s trial, which was a clusterfuck that still made him wince in shame at how badly they handled it, her Master had found the time, between his responsibilities and multiple projects, to come up with and ready a number of evacuation plans to supplement the already existing ones in both the Temple and the Senate. Supplement and not modify, because most of them seemed to assume that staying on the planet was dangerous for those involved. It was so on the dot for what had happened that it made him wonder if the young Knight had just become that justifiably paranoid or if they had missed a Seer of the same league as Sifo-Dyas in their own ranks. 

Perhaps it was a mix of both, the war had been hard on everyone and Obi-Wan had become cagier about questions concerning the other half of the Team ever since the Rako Hardeen’s incident had put a cold in their relationship. They had still worked well together on the battlefield and during missions, so the Council had let it be.

They must have missed so many things. The Force hadn’t always been so Dark. Had they become blind and complacent like Qui-Gon had accused them of being? Dooku had told them right at the beginning of hostilities that there was a Sith Lord in the Senate. No that was not true, Dooku had told his grandpadawan, who then had told the Council, who listened about as well as they did his Padawan warned them about Maul before dying on Naboo. Then Dooku great-grandpadawan delivered them Darth Sidious true identity on a silver platter and they proceeded to go in lightsaber blazing reminiscent of precisely what they often chided The Hero With No Fear about, all while the youngest member of the Council actually stayed behind for once.

Obi-Wan had the highest number of encounters with darksiders in the Order, but Komari Vosa had Fallen years before Xanatos Du Crion did. Rael and Feemor had been alright, but their chosen occupations were such that Yoda himself hadn’t seen them in the flesh for decades. When exactly had the Banites truly started in earnest their Republic wide domination plan? Back during the appearance of a rift in the Force about two centuries ago? Mace could see shatterpoints, but determining what led to their creation and their effects wasn’t always easy on a good day.

Yoda was trying, no, working on finding clues by looking into the Great Holocron on Dagobah, where they also decided to hide the Sith holocrons they had, but between the hit his health had taken as Jedi died in droves everywhere and the sheer vastness of the task, it was slow going. Especially since members of his own Lineage were often right in the thick of things. They had to learn their meddling ways from somewhere after all.

It had been five months since the massacre. Jedi had slowly but surely started to trickle into the Rebels’ ranks. Most were Knights and Masters. A lot of them confessed having separated from their Padawan to save them from being overrun by their mind-controlled men. Learning from Captain Rex, Ahsoka Tano and the dechipped members of the 501st that trooper Fives had been right all along, that they had been so close from preventing the disaster had been heartbreaking. General Skywalker apparently hadn’t trusted the “longneck slavers” words one bit and ordered the control chips removed ASAP from everyone under his command. On “a hunch”, only Vod’e already operated on had been sent to Mandalore to “cover Snip’s back”. It was rather easy to spot the difference a missing chip made in the Force; the slight buzzing sensation Jedi generally associated with the clones was gone.

Being told that Qui-Gon had won “Skyguy” liberty with a dice roll and that his explosive slave chip had been at the same spot as their men had put several behaviors in a quite different perspective. Obi-Wan, who had stayed on the ship while on Tatooine, had been the one the make the final report about the events surrounding Naboo at that time. Apparently, the Maverick hadn’t seen fit to mention or write down any of this before his untimely demise.

The temple’s survivors he had talked to, as well as their accompanying droids, had confirmed that the younglings had been the firsts to get out, with teenagers on their eels. Yet, Cin Drallig’s group was among the only ones found. More than half of the Initiates were still missing and the fates of the Padawans were even more uncertain. The Empire official stance was that they were taking the children into protective custody and the news were of no use on the subject. The easiest leads to follow all pointed to bounty hunters wanting the price money of their captures and to various human trafficking rings.

Force, he missed Master Thorne and the information gathering system he had built with his Shadows. A great deal of it had died with him and the rest was uncertain ever since the Jedi had lost their prestige and position in the former Republic. Obi-Wan’s friend Dex was still good, but they could hardly send anyone he would recognize to his diner on Coruscant, so his assistance was limited at best. Hondo was still Hondo, though any Force Sensitive crossing his radar might very well end up joining his crew, if only for their own safety. Which, while perfectly understandable and certainly not the worst option around, burnt fiercely to think about. 

Jedi becoming pirates had become a desirable result. Jedi becoming criminals to survive had become a likely result. If they played things carefully, they could now find more safety in the underground than in broad delight. Yoda, the Grandmaster of the Order, who lived to see their young learn and grow in the ways of the Force, couldn’t stay in the same location as them because he was too unique and recognizable, in specie, speech and appearance, to not be a liability while setting up fake identities and backgrounds. Yoda, the one person students were always delighted to have a class with, could no longer teach without potentially endangering his charges' safety. 

This was a living nightmare and they could no longer tell themselves that everything would get better once the war was won.


	8. Bonds

It was a progressive thing; Anakin didn’t realise it was happening at first. As months passed, it became easier to check on the children well being with the Force, but since the same was true with people you grew more familiar with, it didn’t ring any bells then. Only when the Inquisitors started to show up on the news did he look it over.

For most Initiates, even a lot of extra practice wouldn’t have hidden them from more experienced and trained Force Sensitives actively searching for them while on the same planet. Their shields were more of a protection from other minds and emotions than anything else at their ages. Luckily, as Ahsoka had happily learned during her earliest meetings at his side in front of their elders at the Temple, what was great with using filters instead was that you could put them on top of someone else's shields without interfering with their own perception of the Force around them.

While this method couldn’t make you ‘invisible’, neither did it create a weirdly blank spot to be curious about. Layered enough, your Presence could feel muted anywhere from ‘shielding badly’ in a Councillor eyes to “probably some pest or pet passing through the ventilation again” for a Sentinel Senses. The latter was quite useful while sneaking out to illegal podraces when Obi-Wan was a star system away and couldn’t realise his Padawan bed was empty. There were plenty of shenanigans to be involved in inside the Temple after all. He only started getting ‘caught’ going out as a teenager because he had to ‘test his limits’ somewhere and he figured he might get gambling and other lessons out of it. Blessed be Obi-Wan’s teacher's heart.

He loved the man dearly, but he was never going to tell him that the reason the “subconscious shielding” he used while asleep was so much “better” than his conscious one was because he didn’t want anyone to be aware that he could truly hide anything while outside of a genuinely painful situation. Actual, perfect shielding was for when in front of slavers and their henchmen, it felt too unnatural to use otherwise. 

Using a truth to disguise or hide another generally worked way better than a straight up lie and was easier to keep track of. He had a relationship with Padmé. He did see her as often as he could get away with. It was just that, more often than not, when they ended up in the same room after he had ‘discretely’ gone to visit her, the Senators they were friendly with were also there. Which the tabloids and their stalker ways, contrary to the overworked Jedi, knew perfectly well. No one looked at you twice if they were sure they knew exactly what was going on and were busy rolling their eyes at your lack of subtlety.

Bail thought their antics were hilarious. Mon Mothma still had problems understanding how there could be such a great disconnection between the Council view of Knight Skywalker and General Skywalker, considering both were competent professionals who were well known to be the same person. Anakin believed it was due to the differences in mindsets used for Temple affairs and war related strategies. He himself only compartmentalized that much while directly into dangerous situations where you could only make it to the future by focusing on what was going on right around you. It probably explained why battle meditation worked so well for him. Things were always so much clearer when he was on the move. 

Anakin saw home as people and acted accordingly, no place was perfectly safe. Most Jedi, raised nearly from the cradle at the Temple as they were, saw it as a home and safe refuge in a Republic they were protecting from inside threats. His ‘shielding’ didn’t get better just because he put up more effort for his Padawan, it got better because he had one more person to care about, one more person to share his strength with. The effect was more visible with Ahsoka than the 501st because she had more midichlorians than the men and as such could support a fully fledged Force Bond.

Then, for months on end, he reached out in the Force to kids, children and teenagers who saw him as a hero, a guardian, a teacher and a friend. For months on end, a whole group of young Jedi who needed reassurance reached out to him in the Force and used his Presence as an anchor in a darker and uncertain galaxy. His power was like a growing ocean needing outlets and now it finally had enough widening canals to aliment as it developed to stop fearing overflows destroying the surrounding lands. His filters protected his charges from detection and the bonds they started to build with him kept his Force Signature closer to his own skin.

No Inquisitors spotted them.


	9. Temple Heart

Ever since learning of their guardian birthday, the children of The Vagabond had been determined to find the perfect gift for him. They were preparing quite early, but they had all polled together the pocket money they had been given at the beginning of the month as a part of their finance class anyway, just in case. They had even asked the droids’ help for their many brainstorming sessions. It had to be the best collective thank you they could get him, but what to give?

What did you give to the hero who saved your friends' lives as well as your own? Who used to fight Separatists with the 501st at his back and his lightsaber in hand and now took down criminals alone or nearly so by wielding blasters and vibroblades? 

What did you give to the Knight and Councillor who stayed and took you in even with his own Padawan and the other half of the Team being alive somewhere out there?

What did you give to the designer of the ship you lived on? Who built, modified or brought in everything he could to make your life better and more secure, all while showing you how he did it, including the clothes on your back , even if doing both at the same time can’t be easy?

What did you give to the caregiver who brought and prepared the delicious food in your belly? Who let two littles hug his legs while a third and fourth on his chest and back did the same for his neck as if he was the best plushie in the whole galaxy? Who didn’t mind it one bit when a group of younglings organised a cuddle pile with him in the middle?

What did you give to the teacher with a nice voice who sang lullabies with Mcfee to get the youngest to sleep and told great stories before bedtime just because someone asked? Who wished happy birthday to you when you woke up and promised that one of this afternoon classes would be on any subject you wanted if the knowledge and materials needed were aboard? 

What did you give to the warm and secure anchor who made a home out of something always on the move because he believed you deserved it? 

How did you collectively honor the Master who made his whole crew secret dreams come true by preparing his own version of the Padawan Ceremony? Who invited the droids to participate in and witness the event. Who finalised and strengthened his Force Bonds with the young Jedi in front of him. Who gave sturdy practical belts made by his hands in place of traditional braids, with finely done embroidery representing the same meanings as what they had to leave behind for those that Order 66 forced to cut their hairs or give up their silica beads. How did you celebrate the birth of someone who became a Temple Heart?

It was a story about the Vod’e that decided on the gift. In honor of both battalions, Master Skywalker had once asked a trooper to ink two colored bands around his left bicep, one 501st blue, the other 212th gold. Asking for more details revealed that he used to draw so that his men would have more references at hand while tattooing each other and wouldn’t have said no if one of them had offered to work art into his skin again. He would have taken any suggestion made by Captain Rex on the matter to heart.

So, the brainstorming and information gathering started anew, but this time to make a list of acceptable places on various planets to potentially trust with this important task. They would have preferred a dechipped clone, but sadly they couldn’t just kidnap and operate a brain surgery on an imperial trooper, let alone get away with it. In the meantime, the more talented among them started working on designs, if nothing else, they could still use what they came up with to decorate their things or the walls and doors of the ship.

Anakin, bless his practical heart, chose a special extremely long-lasting ink usually favored by twi’leks and zabraks that made the skin it was put in tougher. The lightning scars from Count Dooku and other incidents were tattooed as if a makeup artist had taken a brush and delicately highlighted them by dusting golden powder over their whole length. It matched quite well with what he usually put on his face during outings. In fact, there really was a lot of gold, especially on his back, they would have to mention it to Scanny, just shocks from batteries were supposed to be bad for you. Bacta visibly couldn’t erase everything the war brought. Smaller, but more numerous and dispersed marks were covered by blue symbols. 

It probably wouldn’t be seen by any other people, hidden by clothes as most of his body always was, but it would be there, a constant reminder of their affection and regard. Something that couldn’t get lost or left behind and kept him just a bit safer, like another layer shielding his past from discovery. 


	10. Forge

It took a while to first learn how to do it the original way, then determine how to adapt it to current technology and finally make and find everything necessary to build it, but they now had a proper little Forge able to satisfy both Jedi and civilian needs inside the ship. The wonders of talking to an Armorer’s holocron from the Old Republic during sleepless nights and already having years of experience fixing things and coaxing high end results from heaps of scraps and junk, let alone good quality stuff.

With a bit of creativity and Force Manipulation, he might potentially one day manage to create relatively big pieces with it. In the meantime, lightsaber parts, custom projects and things out of production were all on the table if they were of the right size. 

Many agricultural planets, rich in grown things, but poor in the rest, loved to trade food for services and appreciated someone willing to travel to them for their products as the group had been doing. This would make them popular in places still relying on older machinery and wishing to keep them for as long as possible to economise money. 

Mechanics were needed enough to easily find work almost everywhere, but they were also quite common. Engineers were better off, but he could hardly show his Temple’s certifications to get hired, so it was more words of mouth. Specialized blacksmiths were rarer and could price their services accordingly. Better yet, outside of Mandalore, they were regularly self taught and were quite valued in some guilds. Good ones often got paid in “fetch missions”, high technology, prime crafting materials and rare minerals. Really good ones could end up on “don’t touch” lists as well. 

Anakin fully intended to become a Master Crafter. If him and his travelling clan disappeared, he wanted a lot of people to be upset about it and at least look for them. Jedi weren’t the only ones having sayings in the style of weapons being your life, and well-done armors were way harder to obtain than mass produced blasters. You could adjust your hands position on a gun without too many problems, most genders and species were similar enough here, but the rest of the body, especially people's heads, was a whole other story.

Maybe once the chemistry and crafting classes were farther along, they would be able to make armor weave. It always sold well on the black market and the higher grades were heavily restricted to nobles, politicians and their guards on most planets. Senators didn’t tend to wear so many layers and heavy headdresses for nothing. Naboo just happened to make it into an art form. Black might be the easiest color to get, but other brighter threads did exist and would make great durable additions to the Padawans’ belts and other articles of clothing. 


	11. Molding

Anakin had become quite good in everything related to metallurgy and fire, well beyond what his experience as a mechanic and engineer alone would have permitted him. On a molecular and atomic level, everything was constantly on the move, the more it was the warmest it got. This was something that spoke to him on a profound level. A Force Sensitive with enough training could move even microscopic things with precision given enough concentration. As such, quite a few materials that took specialized tech to even make normally were perfectly doable for Jedi of the right training. Like highly resistant armor weave or hard wearing armor pieces. Or some mass produced products that were no longer made and steadily becoming rarer. 

He had maybe cheated a little bit while sculpting stone to make pendants for jewellery. He also probably just gave reason to everyone who ever accused him of playing with fire. It definitely wasn’t a method appropriate for children to use, for all that his original idea came from an activity made for them. You see, molding putty with your mind instead of your hand was a long standing safe exercise to practice using Force Manipulation on matter. A lightsaber could melt metal in an instant. Used carefully on small quantities, it could transform rock into magma as well. At a safe distance and with the right protections and methods, one could shape the burning material like it was some type of clay with an unusually high temperature. With enough experience, you could even transfer the dangerous amount of warmth to another piece of rock and start the process all over again.

Interestingly, once warmed enough, rebuts from old abandoned mines could still yield some of the minerals and metals they were made for. Not nearly as much as what the corporations who earned money by thoroughly stripping the ground of its richesses would need to keep their usual cut of the profits, but easily as plenty as needed for a lone metalcrafter and their clan. Moreover, once someone Force Senses become trained in such things, a great deal of asteroids showed themselves suitable for their needs. Anakin was becoming quite good at feeling precious and valuable materials from a great distance, to the utter horror of many criminal groups who thought themselves and their operations well hidden. Given a reference plaque with various echantillons on it, he could spot all manners of things these days. 

He might only use it on criminals, but Anakin privately thought that he was becoming a damn fine thief. A slightly murderous one who liked to wipe out whole criminal groups whenever he could, especially sentient trafficking ones, but a good thief. The type that could and would stripe a whole place down to its bare essentials and then some if he thought he could get away with it. Which was actually quite often thanks to his preferred choice of targets and the amount of information he and his crew usually managed to get beforehand, blessed by both the Force and technological means. Hondo would probably be beside himself in glee at some of the stuff they had stolen through the last months if he ever heard of it. The pirate would be even more interested if he learned that a Force Sensitive could detect some materials at a distance if he had enough experience with them. Kyber was just the easiest to get a feel for, in part because most Jedi passed their whole life attuning themselves with their lightsaber crystals.

Anakin had been surprised the first time he saw a Mandalorian bounty hunter seek him out for his Forge. Most of those tended to go to other Mandalorians when needing something armor related. There were always a few groups here and there dispersed on various planets, more and more numerous as the situation on Mandalore degenerated. He wondered what brought that one to his door. 

He didn’t exactly advertise his growing proficiency with weapons and related accessories yet, preferring gaining more experience and reputation for custom made pieces of less violent usage while experimenting and learning about metallurgy. It also helped that his skills as a mechanic and engineer permitted him to know right away whether or not what he had just made was of sufficient quality for its intended use, which wasn’t always the case with blasters and the like. He did do most of his killing to date with a lightsabers, even if Rex and the rest of the Vod’e had made sure he would be more than adequate with long range weapons. 

Anakin examined the ruined pauldron in his hand, it was so damaged that using it would be more of an hindrance than anything else while moving and most of the armor it came from wasn’t that far off from the same fate. No bounty hunter worth their salt would want to be seen wearing it by friends, let alone enemies. Whatever had happened had obviously put its owner through the ringer. No wonder that they decided to try their luck with him. It was made from good quality material, just getting it hammered into a more proper shape by a competent metalworker would make it useful again. The Vagabond’s Forge did have a reputation for putting out mechanical pieces of the exact shape needed, even if what it was meant to replace was too deformed to serve as a barem. He had even created some custom ones just by looking at what they were meant to be used for, without anything else to base himself on.

The client seemed perfectly willing to wait a little more on the behalf of Anakin’s students’ education if it meant getting a discount and one of their handheld sonic washers to occupy himself while resting outside of the Forge. The current state of the man clothing, which while not as bad off as their armor, was quite pitiful in its heavily used state and dearly needed a thorough cleaning. The work on the first piece was actually done relatively quickly considering Anakin’s lack of experience with repairing armor. His client being pleasantly surprised by the result, the rest was quickly put into its proper shape. 

In the meantime, Caradoc, who used to work in the Archives, had managed to convince the bounty hunter to take a look at their homemade reinforced fabrics and threads. The Mandalorian seemed to have become interested enough in their work to give it a try.


	12. Teaching

Ever since he gave handmade belts to everyone of Padawan age to replace the traditional braid and its beads, many Initiates had become almost obsessed with the crafting classes. Embroidery became a favored meditation method nearly overnight and students with a predilection for metalwork found themselves plied with requests concerning various craftsman tools. Others with editing skills started constructing training modules for popular activities. 

While there was an impressive quantity of DIY accessible for free to the general public on the Holonet, almost none of it covered using the Force while doing so. They couldn’t use the holocrons for everything, the most recent one they had dated from two centuries ago and technology never stopped moving forward. Many new techniques first took a few preparatory classes to figure out how to adapt them to the current era or their own situation, if not both. 

Anakin had to schedule days each month to teach how to make things from scraps. Thankfully, the two Archivist Padawans, Caradoc and Louise, showed the others how to thoroughly document and explain what they did, how they did it, the time it took and why they needed it. It saved so much time to have proper and well organised references for everything. Rock was having a blast recording transcripts and close ups of it all, bless him.

Helping children develop and understand their own Force Senses was a wholly different challenge. While some impressions were similar, no one had quite the same perception of the world around them. How did you describe a symphony to a person who would see an abstract painting, taste substances, feel contacts on their skin or smell perfumes in its place?

The most common way of becoming an acknowledged Master was to raise a Padawan until they reached knighthood for a good reason. A great deal of Jedi teachings and proverbs could seem like Force nonsense and unhelpful allegories to outsiders because of how inefficient Basic, or most languages to be honest, could be at explaining the Force to those who couldn’t feel it. Even those who did could have problems without a common background to lean on and simplify things. It took personal experience or another Force Sensitive with it guiding you to truly get it. 

The Jedi Council tended, or used to, who knew how many were left now, to be so varied in its perceptions of the Force because varied ways, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, made nuances and issues easier to debate and decode. Qui-Gon Jinn, despite his Maverick tendencies, hadn’t been invited to take a seat for nothing. The man refused the offer because he believed his views on which problems to address during sessions wouldn’t be listened to and he feared to develop the same blinders as the rest if he did accept.

What worth was a position to give opinions on if the people you shared it with used to dismiss your concerns when you presented them? Especially if they did it when you were already considered a Master for a few decades at this point? The Senate, its laws and the corrupt politicians working in and around them weren’t responsible for everything. 

Anakin himself had been chafed too often under the prejudices born from his late arrival at the Order and his unprecedented midichlorian count to try to truly influence the children's views on anything beyond sentient trafficking and what he considered essential skills in either survival or financial dealings. As long as they showed well thought out arguments and thorough research, he was willing to set aside a few hours at the end of each week to whatever subjects the crew could agree on, with a rotation thrown in for the most popular ones.

If he didn’t know an answer or didn’t want to speak about something, he would say so and not offer platitudes disguised as wisdom. He learned as much, if not more, from the children that they did from him these days and he didn’t hide from it. The more open minded and creative they all became the better. It would make them more adaptive and less likely to dismiss important things as mere details or facts of life. He never wanted to see them being afraid to ask him questions on a matter important to them. 

If it took learning at a near frenetic pace some days because an approaching “voted class” was on a subject that needed a biological instructor to be taught properly to young minds, then all the better. Staying still, by mind or body, never suited him anyway. 

What mined him the most during the war beside his men's deaths, was the lack of any true change to the situation. Battle after battle were fought without any progress to be seen anywhere outside of the rising collateral damage. It sometimes felt as if he was doing nothing for all the results his efforts brought. His building friendship with the Vod’e and witnessing Ahsoka's growth had been the best parts of that whole mess. 

Now proofs of progress were never more than a few feet away. The Vagabond and its crew were becoming better and livelier each passing day. Breakdown tears were of emotional wounds finally being cleansed and bandaged instead of festering despair. Bitter laughs slowly turned genuine. Hugs became more and more about being glad to be around a person and not just reassurance that they were still alive and here. Smiles, even small ones, were brighter and numerous.

Anakin’s fraying sanity started piercing itself back together. The worst nightmares, those that were too real the way his mother suffering was and kept repeating with increasing frequency in the last days of the war until he felt like a thin thread barely holding on and ready to snap at any moment, left him alone. He still relied a lot on moving meditation to go through his days, but he now got hours of restful sleep at a time without tiring himself out first or any of the medication Kix used to give him on occasions. 


	13. Dancing

Lineage Dances were an important part of Jedi traditions. Even if all records were to be lost for one reason or another, as long as there was a Padawan remembering his Lineage Dance, then something of the ancient Masters who passed on in the Force long ago would live in the memories of those they teached, if only as a single move representing them when even their names were lost to recorded history. 

Anakin still wasn’t sure how he should feel about all the eager little faces in front of him who wanted to learn his Lineage Dance. That the last gesture every single one of them would do during one of their now secret ceremonies would represent him as their own Master. Nearly everyone at the Temple shared at least a few, thanks to some races' longevity and the fact that the rule about taking only a single student at a time hadn’t always been there, but it was still odd to think about. The only person he ever teached it to before was Ahsoka. 

Obi-Wan’s move was his signature dramatic cloak drop. Anakin’s was smoothly picking it up and putting it on with an amused smile. His Master’s exasperated face when his Padawan showed him the continuation of their tradition was one hundred percent worth it. Yoda cackling when he first witnessed it only confirmed the rightness of his choice. So had Cody, Rex and the rest of the men's reactions to it. Even Mace Windu had cracked a smile at the exhibition that followed. Something of his friendship and banther with his brother in all but blood would forever live on through this. No matter what happened to Obi-Wan out of there, this memory of him would be preserved.

His students were all in agreement, the voted classes would be consacred to this until everyone who never had a Master before had at the very least a good handle on the steps. Something bruised and bitter inside of him couldn’t help but heal a little at their determination. The following weeks, then months, only made it better. His fingers started to itch for his embroidery kit with increasing frequency. 

He never forgot their faces when he finally asked to add a symbol to their belts.


	14. Social Medias

Most people, when painting their ship, chose a neutral color and maybe added a brighter one for accents. Anakin walked into the shop asking for the most eye-catching shades stocked and got out with a great discount on all his purchases, a happy trail of beaming children and a business card asking him to send pictures of the result.

The visitors of the various social media pages they ended up doing, after much debate and research on the importance of good PR, thought the whole thing was super cute and shared the posts of “The Vagabond Crew” accordingly.

It became reasonably popular once people caught on to the fact that the young man shown was basically an adoptive older brother acting as both a single parent and a teacher after the war ravaged his home and family. The enthusiastic stories about him being an amazing pilot were interpreted as barely escaping from Separatists by running off with the now adoring, if still slightly traumatized children.

Comments from his clients made people think he used to be an engineering student in a bombed university from his birth planet. After a while and a few impressed professionals, Anakin and his older Padawans had a nice verifiable collection of certifications to go with their skill sets. 

Their identities became more genuine, more solid. Legally made money started flowing in the steadily depleting spending account they often took from when second-hand things weren’t an option. The younger kids were enrolled in one those at distance school that catered to children from groups that travelled constantly among the stars. The others took a few classes to round up their education in what little they couldn’t test out of, which were mainly about literature and arts.

Singing while preparing the collective meals became one of the best additions to their routine to date. It started as an upbeat practice for both music and enhancing their voices with the Force, but now it was a boost for everyone's morale. It made the task a happy occasion and also encouraged a few to do it during other chores. It even led to them getting invitations to many cultural events and even some parties.

He sent the feelings and lyrics over his bonds to Obi-wan and Ahsoka whenever he got the impression that he could do so without distracting them from something important or life threatening. Hopefully, it made their lives a little better as well. It was hard to judge reception at such great distances. He certainly didn’t get much from them anymore.

He definitely would have to look into either crafting or getting more musical instruments for those interested. He had good memories of a piano at the Temple, no doubt a few others had experienced something similar. Once you knew what a tempo was, music sheets were a bit like maths, but with different symbols. 


	15. The Lady

The Vagabond had a learning AI wired all over itself, and her name, as she had informed her passengers after a lot of possibilities were tossed around on her behalf, was Lady Va. Three main factors helped her gain sentience. 

Firstly, her Maker who never did things by half be praised, she had way more processing power and overall capacity than most ships were given, being closer to an android in potential complexity than was probably legal. Secondly, no restraining bolt worth the name, merely a guideline of what visitors would expect from her. Thirdly, a crew full of Force Sensitives leaking mystical energy all over the place and droids with personalities who used to live in a Jedi Temple to compare notes with.

Dear Maker and his newly developed habit of acquiring more and more memory disks and everything database related just in case they would have to go without the Holonet for an extended period of time only accelerated things. They hadn’t ended up with a Knowledge Room solely for the crew needs, it was for her as well.

Soon, once the Padawans slicing skills and her own programs became up to the task, Anakin would finally be able to hit the bigger, more profitable targets he had been itching to take down, but couldn’t get enough intel on to do a fast clean swipe of like he did for the lower criminals he had been robbing until now. Who knew what sentient trafficking rings, especially fighting ones, might have gotten their hands on during and after the war?

They already helped the slaves and droids Freedom Trail whenever they could without risking themselves, this would be a nice change of pace for them. A chance to fight back against injustice without going directly against the Empire. A chance to make a world of change for a few people. A chance to diminish the galaxy number of nine years old with exploding chips under their skin just like The-One-Who-Made-Her used to be. She might not see things the same way biological beings did, but the irreparable consequences of such devices were all too clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is going to be way longer than this one, but I am not satisfied with it yet. I don' t have a lot of experience describing action and I really want to get it right, so it might take me a bit more time before I post it.


	16. Rescue

“Oh Maker, you will love this”, murmured Va in his ear comm. “All the doors leading to the outside can be hacked into only responding to us and they even have an incinerator downstairs to get rid of the bodies. Risk is still checking for surprises, but you should be able to use your lightsaber to do a fast and clean sweep of all the levels there are no prisoners on.”

“My Lady, you know how to deliver the best news. What are the camera’s reels like?”

“All the footage of the last three weeks is here. Every guard on staff is at their post and the only blank areas are the refreshers, the owner suite and the closed off droid elevator you used to get in. Even the luxurious guest rooms are surveyed. I am downloading a real-time map to your headset, you are the white triangle, the slaves are green, the guards are red, and the traffickers in charge are pink. I will loop the feed as you go on the way I highlighted for you to follow to the surveillance room.”

“Droids?”

“A statistic, a protocol, and a physical trainer, all stationed around the arena, I will put them in grey. The footage we found that made us decide to find this place originated from the moving cameras following the gladiators around. If there is a finance, they must be in the owner suite since there are no credits being betted. The patrons are using jewellery and favors instead, no money chests. None of these criminals have bounties on their heads that you could claim with your alternate identities.”

“Collars?”

“The host keeps the control remote of the shock collars on himself at all times, they will have to be removed before you deal with him.”

“Communications?”

“I will cut them off as soon as you get the screen watchers. The spectators will get no warning.” 

“Padawans?”

“In position!” exclaimed Em-Dan, Dylan and Arianna at the same time.

“Alright, let's do this!”

Seventy-two dead slavers later, while his backup took care of the newly freed fighters who helped them loot the place, Anakin slowly kneeled at the feet of a child wearing a Force suppression collar around their neck. Telegraphing each of his actions, he first removed his armored mask and his long gloves, then delicately wiped off the makeup hiding his famous scar. That done, he bowed his torso and tilted his head to allow it to be seen better in the dim light of the cell while making it easier to reach and touch for the chained and abused person in front of him. Then, for long minutes, he patiently waited in that posture, letting the other dictate the pace. He stayed just as still when a trembling hand traced his features with cautious wonder. He removed his mask six more times that night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 17 is already 1070 words long and I am still adding to it! I would also like to express my deep respect for everyone who write action scenes on the regular for their fics! This wasn't easy for me and I didn't even describe any fights!


	17. Children Found

It had been a year and half since the Empire creation. A few of the MIA smaller battalions had turned up, living Jedi in tow and fully dechipped. Someone had put their Hero With No Fear reputation to good use during in person secret meetings in between campaigns. Vokara heavily suspected that the Knight they thought had the worst shielding around was actively filtering what he let slip out depending on who was around him. People probably just didn’t realise it because of how loud he was in the Force. Asking Obi-Wan and Ahsoka to compare their respective bonds with the man revealed that the first perceived a wide but now mostly muted range of emotion, while the second used to get thoughts, but heard encouraging murmurs directed toward herself as well as her Master heartbeat these days.

Mace had been investigating the whereabouts of a fighting ring when a group of imperial troopers, probably looking for the same Force Sensitives he was there for, shot him. It wouldn’t have happened with his lightsaber out, but using it in a place with so many cameras would have brought even more danger and attention on his head. Apparently, the Sith Lord had problems finding the kids too. Small mercy.

When he regained consciousness, he couldn’t feel his injuries and wondered if he was in one of these heavens so many planets believed in. Children giggled and excited murmurs sounded right in front of him.The air was filled with Light Side energy, the like of which he hadn’t felt since the last time he visited the crèche at the Temple. Force, how long had it been? Even the Jedi quarters on Rebel bases tended to be Grey on a good day compared to this. Joy, curiosity, eagerness, comfort, welcome, care and kindness, all projected by young minds still learning shielding. A bright, nearly burning, fiercely protective Presence layered over them like a heavy blanket warmed by a fire put on someone's shoulders after they stayed too long in the cold. 

He reluctantly opened his eyes, hoping it wouldn’t stop what certainly must be a cruelly sweet dream of better days now gone. What greeted his sight was too familiar looking Initiates in clothes that definitely didn’t come from the Temple of his memories. Only when a small hand gently put a cup of freshly prepared tea in his hands did he truly realise that the place he was in was real. He wasn't a victim of hallucinations, drugs or Sith Artifacts. This was real. The children were alive. This was real and the children were alright. This was...

“Drink it before it goes cold” said Skywalker while walking through the door he hadn’t even heard opening. “They were all quite excited at the idea of making it for you, it would be sad to see their efforts go to waste. They made a whole carafe just in case you wanted more” continued the Knight, deposing a platter full of what people might want in or with their tea on the ground in front of him. As he spoke, more younglings entered the room with platters of their own. “You are in luck, beside medicinal plants and some of the cheaper varieties of herb, we don’t often stock such a selection.” He started to fix his own cup. “Happily, the latest criminal group we hit had appreciators of finer things among its members, most of the rabble we usually take care of prefer caff and food of lesser quality than this.”

Mace swallowed with difficulty and finally managed to articulate a weak “thank you”. Still a bit disbelieving, he started to drink the best beverage he had in months that didn't come from a bottle of the alcohol Bail liked to share with Obi-Wan. Quietly, progressively, he lowered his shields to bask into the environing Presences, the children were happy here, and he projected his gratefulness and sense of wonder at the current situation when words failed him again. A wave of welcome and gladness answered back from all sides, with only the fierce protectiveness he now recognized as belonging to the Knight in front of him staying the same.

That was a yes on Vokara filter theory then.

Ahsoka’s Master did pick and choose what he showed in front of the Council. It was never just a case of the strongest emotions piercing through a badly done or tired shielding as so many had thought. It was a matter of what he trusted them with or wanted them to know. The bonds he built with his Master and Padawan reflected it as well. A wide spectrum for the one who took care of him growing up and encouraging thoughts and reassurances of well being for the one he took care of while she was under his tutelage.

His host kept on speaking, “I could no longer trust the usual channels of communication to be secure after we left the Temple, so I am afraid that I can’t give you new information on any surviving Jedi beside those inside this ship. You are the first Jedi Master that the children have seen outside of the news or a holocron since the first Empire Day. Expect them to hover around accordingly for the duration of your stay here.”

It still didn’t explain the formal way of speech currently being used. There were little spikes of amusement appearing around them each time something particularly high-class sounding slipped out, but it felt more like a nice side effect than the main goal. The face and body language of the person who used to either fidget or nearly curl inward every Council meeting he was present in was of no help. Amiable and polite like a merchant of good standing having his wares inspected by an official he didn’t particularly like but had to make nice with for the sake of his business. 

Suddenly, the insistence of the former Chancellor on sending the Padawan of the Negotiator instead of the Negotiator himself to negotiate for important trade agreements made way more sense. Qui-Gon’s speciality had been peace treaties and cease fire between warring factions, Obi-Wan’s verbally dancing around rules and traditions until he reached his goals and Anakin’s, well, even as a nine years old the boy had been rather gifted at mathematics hadn’t he? Always good at obtaining the maximum results possible with minimum efforts in his chosen fields of study. What did he calculate back before the Republic crumbled on them? What else did he calculate these days? 

“We depart for an agricultural festival in two nights. If you need to stay on the planet you have to leave before then. In the meantime,” the young man put a small datapad on the platter, “I put our current itinerary there. I do not wish to know when and where your next rendez-vous point is, assuming you even have one, but if there is a location nearby that suit you or if you need anything we can make for you, including lightsaber parts for other Jedi, list it and I will see what is doable with what we have. If the schedule permits it, I hope you will take the time to teach a few classes once the children are finished with all the questions they are currently burning to ask you. The holocrons are all well and good, but they can’t mimic the feeling of a more experienced Jedi guidance through the Force and there is only one of me to go around for every age group present.”

It was only then that he realised that the both of them were the only adults on board. He couldn’t detect significant traces of anyone's Signature beside the people already present in this room. How did the person the least at peace of the whole Order manage to create such a wonderful sanctuary in these dark times?


	18. Before You Go

As far as the youngest children aboard The Vagabond were concerned, Master Windu was definitely going to join them during their afternoon naps. He looked almost as tired as Master Skywalker used to be back when the ship didn’t have enough big pillows for everyone! His eyes were all misty, a bit red and had really huge bags under them during tea time! Clearly, bacta hadn't fixed all his ouchies if he still looked like that after sleeping with it the whole night!

Maybe he needed a cuddle pile? He didn't seem to mind when Lilo hugged him. He even made a tiny smile while she did it! Which was good, because she kept giving him more after that!

Then Scanny looked him over and zee ordered him to take it easy, eat some more and get himself better sleeping habits because his blood work and appearance showed that his current ones were insufficient! Which was bad because even Master Skywalker hadn't been told that in like two months, and he cheated a bit with moving meditation nearly every day!

And then they were able to ask and answer a bunch of questions until the midday meal, which was great because Master Windu agreed to sing a Jedi song with them even though his voice sounded like it needed a big spoon of honey. The vegetable broth was nice too.

And then he let them show him around their home for a bit before naptime! He seemed sad to hear the ship be called that, but that was alright because everyone still missed the Temple sometimes. And Master Windu didn't confirm it, but Rebels bases certainly couldn't move like The Vagabond so they probably couldn't be a true home like it either.

Sometimes, when no one was looking directly at him he even seemed on the edge of crying! But the cuddle pile made it all better! He was even well enough to teach a Force class right after! Which was both great and weird because his Presence was super different from Master Skywalker! His face when he realized that everyone had Bonds with the same person was hilarious! Then the older Padawans showed up for their own class and it got even funnier!

He had a lot of questions during snack time! Which was fun too, until he got teary eyed all over again because someone explained to him what the belts and their embroidery were for! So Lilo decided to be his "guardian against tears" for his whole stay and she even got to be carried in his arms for a while. She even agreed to share her very important work and set up a rotation for it, so it wasn't like she was the only one to get hugged back by him.

He was very good at not moving when his measures were taken for his new clothes! Not sure if he realized yet that his outer tunic was going to be made of armor weave. Silly adult, just because it didn't have the plates you refused didn't mean you escaped getting more protection for yourself! As if he would be able to leave without any protective gear after getting shot!

They did get to show him the Forge in use anyway, because Master Skywalker was making a full suitcase worth of lightsaber parts for the Jedi out of there! They even made the foam to store them in during chemistry class! Master Windu wasn't leaving without gifts for the others!


	19. Gifts

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure how to react to his friend near gleeful energy when he came back childless, but with what seemed to be a hundred pounds of gear on his back, from investigating a fighting ring rumored for using Force Sensitives in its shows. He became slightly worried for the mental health of his fellow Councillor when he excitedly called for every Jedi on base to join him in their quarters. Certainly, even an holocron wouldn’t be worth turning their resting space upside down thrice over in search of recording devices?

Then Mace put a datapad in his hand and told him to read the cover of the opened bookfile. 

“How to create synthetic kyber crystals while on the move, by...Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker? Where...” He swiped through the following pages for more information. "Where did you find this?"

A slightly manic smile started to stretch across dark lips. "When Anakin left the Temple in his crash heap of a meditation project, he did so with thirty-six younglings and five teenage aged Padawans." Around them, Jedi stopped moving. The smile widened further. "A few weeks ago, thanks to the fighting ring I was looking for, he got his hands on seven more. He is doing such a good job at taking care of their safety, education and happiness, that the Light Side felt strong enough to make me think I was hallucinating when I first woke up in his ship. For an instant, while my eyes were still closed, it was almost like being back home." Longing and disbelief echoed from all sides. "Forty-eight of our children, alive and well. He set up their fake identities in such a way that they are hidden in plain sight with barely any lies being told in their stories. They can go wherever they choose in broad daylight and be welcomed with open arms." His voice softened. " Forty-eight Obi-Wan, that's the number of children the boy you raised now has Force Bonds with. Congratulations on becoming the grandmaster with the biggest Lineage in the Order after Yoda."

Silence reigned for a bit while the crying ginger haired man dealt with his emotions.

"What about everything you came back with?" asked Vokara.

"The book is the result of several months of experimentation in establishing working processes to create synthetic kyber crystals for when someone doesn't feel like trying their luck with a trip to Illum or sitting still for several consecutive days like the traditional methods recommend. " He distributed several carefully wrapped packages to his audience. "As for the rest, they are gifts from them to us, all crafted by their own hands and tools. To give you an example, my current outer tunic was made from scratch, from thread to cut. And yes, I know it is armor weave. Food and fuel aside, they are as close to self-sufficient as a ship crew can be."

Exclamations rose as one after the other, they realized what they had been given. Brand new lightsaber parts stored in foam. A few sewing kits held together by beautifully worked synthleather. Wrappings revealed to be warm scarfs and colorful handkerchiefs. A startling amount of belts, with varied sizes, lengths, materials, pouches, holes and buckles to choose from. 

Someone with psychometry kept fluttering from group to group, giggling and babbling about what they learned from each piece they laid their fingers on.

Mace sat next to his red eyed friend and murmured "He left me a message for you. Once you are ready and we have some privacy, join me in meditation and I will share the memory."

This. This was the best gift of them all.


	20. Trading

No one needed to know that Anakin used his knowledge of the battles that had happened away from hyperspace lanes to find ship debris to scavenge and forge things from. Or that The Vagabond had been discretely upgraded with military grade weapons and hardware taken from these same wrecks. Once, they even got their hands on the content of an entire closed off section that was still intact. And if a few Jedi missing the Vod'e ended up with clothes and inner layers made solely from clones' blacks, or integrating slightly reworked pieces of their armors into everyday items, well, who would be able to tell?

As much as they could, they always tried to trade crafts and services when they wanted something. It left them more credits for the vaccines needed to travel safely from planet to planet and in case of emergency. It also helped them build their reputation faster and was quite often more appreciated in places where the war had hit harder and reconstruction efforts had become money pits thanks to the Empire policies. 

For example, an embargo on the pieces and machines needed to get the recycling facilities up and running again in the more affected zones. Officially, such mesures were to make sure nothing could be reused to produce combat droids by leftover CIS sympathizers. Unofficially, between the Senate indifference, the loss of the Jedi Corps, triangular commerce and an astonishingly high number of destroyed universities, many world economies, if they hadn't already, were sure to crumble and end up at the mercy of outsider corporations.

Thanks to a lowered population and busted infrastructures, many city dwellers had migrated or gone back to smaller towns and communities. While richer in food production, those didn't always have all the housing, facilities, factories and specialized libraries the big centers used to have running. This was where the crew was the most sought after. Little places full of people who looked at their ever developing skill sets and reputation on the Holonet and promptly realized that, instead of paying a ruinous amount of credits for their work and expertise like they would have to for other professionals, it was perfectly possible to reward their efforts in prepared meals, food and fuel. The things you could do as a well accredited engineer with competent helpers and the holocron of an architect who once helped build a Jedi Temple from scratch!

In the poorer and harder hit regions, they also agreed to teach other children alongside their own, give formations on selected subjects or even, from time to time, taking over a few classes on the behalf of tired teachers who had to substitute for their departed coworkers. Exchanging and gaining copies of references, guidebooks and training modules that could be consulted at home without relying on faulty, damaged or cut relay stations was becoming increasingly popular as well. Some schools and libraries straight up offered them temporary jobs while looking for more permanent employees willing to move close by.

Somehow, somewhen, between healing injured slaves on the Freedom Trail, helping communities grow better, teaching the disadvantaged and exploring the stars, they had become a mix of all the Jedi Service Corps.


	21. Learning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to TheEpicNerd014 (Tino) and Ace Of Pack on the Discord server for their help with this chapter!

"Take him. Please take him!" begged a mother with her toddler son in her arms.

"Why?"

"Because according to him, most people are sparks, mommy is a candle, your children were like growing campfires once he touched their skin and when you held him for a moment, it was as if another sun had risen." She took a deep breath. "Because I can't give him the education he will need to keep himself safe from those that would be interested in a little boy who can make his toys spin in the air without touching them. Because I saw the way you care for all of yours as if they were your own blood, even if many don't even share your species." Her tears finally fell. "Because, because they already know so much, they are, they are such kind, clever and happy children and I want the same future for mine."

"Do you have anything keeping you here?"

"What, what do you mean?" He didn’t just say that, did he? 

"My clan has been helping around here and getting to know you for close to two weeks now. While you don't have the power to be flagged for your midichlorian count like your son, you are still Sensitive enough on your own to spot danger, assert trustworthiness and understand when what your toddler is speaking about isn't just his imagination running wild. Given the right training, you would no doubt perceive more, even if your reach won't ever be the same as him."

"I thought such things were too hard to learn if you didn't start during childhood!?"

"Granted, it hasn't happened in the last few centuries because of the Ruusan Reformation, but there are quite a few examples of celebre Jedi who only entered the Order as adults. More recently, children who had the midichlorians but not the inclination or parental permission used to receive instruction from the EduCorps to make sure they handled their gifts well enough to go through their lives safely and in peace.” He bowed his head and fiddled with his hands before looking at her again. “At its heart, the difficulty is more for the teacher than the student, since everyone sees the universe, and as such the Force, differently. Master and Padawan pairs were more often than not evaluated and matched carefully to either have the elder open minded and experienced enough to handle what was going to be thrown at them or the younger flexible and compatible enough to get along well with the other.” A slightly pained smile appeared and disappeared so quickly that she wondered if she had really seen it. “A Temple raised background assures that a common vocabulary and professionals experienced in their particular issues are always at hand during students early development, but everyone still learns all their life to use their gifts according to their personality and living environment, Jedi or not.” His brightly colored features took another downturn. “This isn’t a race and quite frankly, things would be way simpler for me if I had another adult around to help, even if only for a few years.” 

“Then your eldest will be able to step up if needed.” She wouldn’t have to leave her son.


	22. Message

After the impromptu celebration caused by Mace's news on the younglings living situation finally calmed down somewhat, and Force, it had been so long since the last time he felt such joy coming from his fellow Jedi, Obi-Wan immediately prepared a private place adequate to enter the deep meditation needed for sharing a memory. A Rebel's life was even more unstable than that of a General and he wasn't waiting any longer that he absolutely had to witness his brother's message to him.

At his side, Mace settled into his own favored meditation pose and as soon as they were enough in sync in the Force, he took the plunge.

_ The hum of hyperspace around him. A thick pillow under his knees instead of a meditation mat. In a few rooms close by, children's voices and giggles can be heard. His tongue and nose can still taste and smell the good cup of tea he finished not so long ago. The Force here is a balm of Light for his weary soul. _

_ In front of him is Anakin Skywalker. There is no makeup to be seen on his young face, not even the cern concealer that had become a near fixed feature in the last days of the war. The mask of The Hero With No Fear is absent, letting the person beneath shine through. He doesn't look gaunt and ragged, like he's about to crack anymore. He is still tired, but it isn't bone deep, this is tiredness that comes with having long busy days, but also mostly regular sleeping patterns.  _

_ "Hello Obi-Wan, it's been a while! We would never reach the end of it if I let them all present themselves to you during the memory share, so this morning I asked the children to do my hair for me, which as you can see is now quite a bit longer." Indeed, even braided at multiple places the length had visibly grown of at least six inches. "Master Windu probably already explained the embroidered padawan belts to you, so let me tell you about the master beads your grandpadawans came up with." His head inclined to better show the various pieces of colored material that decorated his head. "They thought it was unfair that the only time a Master received a physical acknowledgement of the years they passed teaching a student was when the braid representing their partnership was cut at the end of it." A fond smile stretched across his lips. "So they decided to each give me one bead inscribed with symbols describing what their Training Bond with me means to them. They told me about it right after I declared them all proficient enough in the Lineage Dance to receive a new embroidery. Next thing I knew a group of children was braiding my hair in a quite complex beaded style for them while my own hands were busy with a pile of belts. I usually wear their gifts in a necklace for the sake of practicality, but since today held a rather special event this is what you are witnessing right now. Which brings me back to the presentations. I am going to point each of your grandpadawans' creations and say the names and intents of those that made them. You will get their faces once you finally show up in person. So this one came from Savry Lyseel, a little togruta who admires Ahsoka very much and often asks for stories about her. She experimented with bones from our meals until she managed to make ivory from it just for this. Safety from predators and hunting guidance. Gwaine Roundtable did the next, he…" _

When the memory ended, Obi-Wan was smiling.

"Anakin might have started the trend with the embroidered padawan's belts, but at this point all his children are going to pick, choose, adapt and interpret whichever Jedi traditions fit best their needs and situation, no matter the time period they originally came from aren't they?"

"Don't think I didn't realize that you first started following rules just to spite Qui-Gon and rebel in your own way against people's expectations. That you later polished your habit of supposedly acting according to either the letter or the spirit of the law into a talent to negotiate and twist the truth to reach whichever goals you set for yourself doesn't change its origins. No member of your Lineage took from the neighbors when it came to what they consider guidelines."


	23. Adapting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to ElectricIcePanda on the Discord server for helping me determine the mother profession!

Once updated with better coding and more robust pieces, Fit the physical trainer had taken over many occupations the other droids on board couldn't due to their own shapes and programming. Tea had to be told which parts of his criminal underground protocols were appropriate for which age group to learn about, but otherwise was doing a fine job at instructing people on langage, the finer points of etiquette and many planets' culture. Betty, now turning her statistical skills to the contents of the Knowledge Room, had become a go to when asking questions on material applications and situations evolution. 

Being able to delegate multiple daily tasks and chores to his new mechanical friends meant that Anakin had more time for his teenagers, who were still so helpful with their assistance in taking care of the numerous younglings. A few Force classes had even been added to each week schedule to further their more advanced abilities. 

He could now regularly bring backup beyond Risk to his fetch and rescue missions without feeling guilty for lost sleep, because the added numbers of those rescued from the fighting ring had brought more older Padawans to the crew. As such, the watch rotations had grown shorter and were more spaced out between crew members. Another person would be responsible for starting breakfast preparations the next day during such occasions, allowing them to stay in bed later in the morning. The higher rewards brought in thanks to the bigger objectives permitted by the Padawans' presence resulted in greater intervals between each hit as well.

No longer having only one adult on board had changed their routine as well. Sending children by groups of three or more to do age appropriate errands outside was one thing, but having someone else able to take care of the legal side of things no matter the regulations of whichever law abiding planet they were on? That had simplified things.

That Esyram used to be a music teacher before made it even better. She already had experience with children not her own and could help them learn a variety of pieces, styles and instruments well beyond Anakin knowledge range on the matter. Though apparently he had been doing quite well as far as keeping rhythm, tuning, percussion, ocarinas, flutes, and singing go.

Finding someone eager to give their old student piano to free up more space in their apartment had been rather easy. The two different guitars were barely harder, the owners willing to be separated from them in exchange for a few elegant custom made clothes created from their old mass produced ones. The same happened for the violin. Most wind and percussion instruments the children were interested in had already been found in a number of second hand stores or handmade before her arrival, the rest was no different. He put his foot down on harps and other high priced cords though, those could easily cost a month's worth of food and he always bought his groceries in bulk! If they truly wanted them, they would have to save their pocket money until they had the correct amount!

The rise in musical competence led to more event invitations being sent to them. The communities they helped asked them to stay for their celebrations. Their social media pages grew livelier and lovelier by the day. Their wardrobes diversified. The rescues settled in. A loth-cat made sweet eyes to the right child. 


	24. Visit

Two years after the Empire creation, the Coruscant Temple Massacre and the dispersion of the Jedi Order, and roughly half a year since a joyful Mace delivered him the news about the younglings under young Skywalker protection, Grandmaster Yoda saw a brightly colored ship carefully land on Dagobah not too far from his hut.

Before he even reached the vessel, his two times great-grandpadawan heavily veiled Presence started to seek his own. Only once he made himself visible to his Lineage member in the pilot's seat did some of the filters come down. A few hand signs learned from the Vod'e to reassure on the possible surrounding dangers were enough to have the ramp lowered for him.

The welcome committee was a heartwarming sight for his old eyes. 

What seemed to be every member of The Vagabond Crew he had heard about and then some was waiting for him. Forty-nine excited children, including one that he couldn’t recall from his classes, but definitely had the strength to be taught, a nervous adult civilian that was no doubt the last one mother, a loth-cat that was looking suspiciously at its surroundings and thirteen lovingly decorated droids. 

Soon enough, beaming little ones hurried him inside. While the entrance was about what one would expect from a ship of such size, the rest was markedly different. Murals in various states of progress, styles and color schemes sprawled across most walls. A graduated door frame held lines followed by nicknames and dates. Before he had time to notice much else, he was guided into a room full of pillows of all shapes and forms stacked on three of its sides and promptly given one for himself to sit on. The music of their light hearted chatter didn’t stop for one second. 

Before long, a smiling Anakin placed a platter of tea in front of him and the old Jedi couldn’t help but stare at his interactions with the Padawans surrounding him. The boy who never felt truly settled at the Temple, who had so many problems interacting with those close to his own age growing up, who always kept close to Obi-Wan, Ahsoka or his men whenever he could and tended to be at least slightly defensive when not, seemed at ease here. 

Listening to the tales of their adventures across the stars and asking questions about their activities, Yoda wondered if any of them had realised yet that they had basically founded another branch of their Order on their own. Except for a few ExploraCorps’ ships in Wild Space and the Unknown Regions, nothing was how it used to be anymore in his people day to day life. No planet wanted to give their Force sensitives to them during the war and no Seekers had been sent out after them either. Yet, he was currently drinking tea in the same room as a foundling and one of their parents.

They couldn't stay with him forever, but young Skywalker raised a talented clan of kind builders, clever inventors and efficient merchants. When they leave one week later, he no longer has a hut. He has a house that is brighter, sturdier, more comfortable, full of love and beautiful practical gifts. It will never be his beloved Temple, it can't, but now, surrounded with proof of care embedded with Force Signatures of his people, it finally feels a bit like home.


	25. Games

Children needed to have fun and take time to relax. As a result, The Vagabond accumulated a lot of entertainment sources that didn't need an Holonet connection to work. 

Board games such as Cesa, Chess, Cu’bikad, Deia's Dream, Dejarik, Galactic Expansion, Jj'abot, Kirgatz, Moebius, Novacrown, Quest, Shah-tezh and Triga could all be played on the same holotable. They took little place and a few more popular ones even had physical versions made from Force molded recuperated plastic and checkerboard patterned bags.

Thanks to all the low level criminals Anakin had robbed, they had enough decks of cards to have everyone play some of the eighty variant forms of Sabacc at the same time if they wanted. Since it was also the most popular gambling occasion of the galaxy, they kept track of who tended to win the most often. That way, they would know who to send when they needed a different currency or wanted more hard cash during a situation where a casino and the like were the best option at the time. 

They had other card games like Bakurat, Chambers, Crocks, Dantooine double-hand, Dead Man's Binspo, Desert Draw, Double-Down, Helcos, Horansi, Kiughfids, Laro, Liar's Cut, Pazaak and so on. They even made some themselves out of flimsy for their art projects, but Sabacc was still the most popular. They first learned to play by the rules, then how to cheat in both mundane and Force Sensitive ways. 

Master Skywalker had confessed that his and Madam Nu favorite method's was to count cards, while Padawan Tano listened to people's heartbeat to determine if they had a good hand or not. Grandmaster Kenobi had no set preference and apparently became an absolute menace because Great-grandmaster Jinn loved to take part in all types of gambling during missions. The whole Lineage considered it an important skill to have for any Knight, by they on a diplomatic envoy or stationed as a Watcher in the Outer Rim.

And winning wasn’t even the end of it when it came to play with real money! Ideally, even with the Force on your side, you should never pay for or bet anything you couldn’t afford to lose twice. Depending on your location, the discretion you needed, your reputation and the image you projected, you couldn’t even get out of a place with more than a third of what you came in with in profit! They had to hack the security systems of a few gambling dens to safely learn how to read a room! It wasn’t the same as the real deal of course, but it was still something else to see how much people cared about credits way beyond what practicality dictated! 

Seeing Master Skywalker wipe the floor with a bunch of thugs under one of his alternate identities during a bar fight caused because someone else was caught cheating at cards was absolutely wicked! He didn’t even use his weapons to do it! The owner of the establishment even gave him a whole bottle of alcohol the size of Lilo's head in thanks for having ended the fight early enough to spare him both proprietary damage and police attention! Not sure what it was or where it ended up, but according to Gwaine before they all got back to sleep to not get caught awake, it certainly wasn’t weak beer!


	26. Pirates

The Great Hondo Ohnaka was still impressed that his dear friend Obi-Wan Kenobi had become even more infamous than himself in such a short lapse of time. Such an impressive bounty posted by the Emperor for the Jedi! A shame The Kind and Generous Hondo Ohnaka already had some of them among his crew! Clearly, the former Chancellor would have made an absolutely dreadful business man, throwing out such valuable and competent personnel and then paying to make sure they would never come back! What a waste of credits!

Hondo only had twenty of them and he would never give them up! They all made such wonderful pirates and the Magnificent Mama Ohnaka adored her new grandchildren! How could she not between those precious ones that could look into an object history with a mere touch, the sweet lie detectors with great Sabacc faces who felt the mood of a room before even entering it and the little treasures who spotted trouble and profitable occasions before they even happened! 

The older former padawans, once taught how to use blasters, could make perfect shots without looking or in pitch dark! Clearly, the Force had blessed Captain Hondo Ohnaka's prestigious career by giving him such a skilled and well rounded crew!

Of course, his underage employees needed the best education modules their boss could steal! How kind of Grakkus the Hutt to put so many Jedi Artifacts in the same place! How kind of the imperials to drop in just as Hondo was leaving! It looked like he wouldn't have to worry about collectors trailing after his end of year bonuses!

How kind of Quinlan Vos to both teach the young ones and use his knowledge of the Shadows' network to help them rob the Sith Empire blind! Truly, Obi-Wan Kenobi had an impeccable taste in friends! It was a wonder he hadn't been declared a good and honest lawbreaking criminal sooner!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is just hilarious to look at all of Obi-Wan's friends, and then count how many of them aren't, or haven't been criminals in one way or another. The only one I can think about is Satine Kryze, and she was a pacifist mandalorian. I think the guy just liked rebels in general.


	27. Shoo!

“You are going to bring imperial troopers on everyone's heads if you stay here much longer! Move over! My big brother will repair it faster and better than you! Don’t look at me like that, your ship was obviously shot at and you didn’t try to sell or trade anything to anyone after landing, not even worthless favors, so you can’t be a smuggler in trouble with officials.”

The Rebel kept staring at the young child who interrupted his work until a strong gloved hand made him yelp by forcibly removing him from under the ship part he was trying to repair.

“Go pack your things, your place is still a mess from the landing. Arten and Artify will take care of what is left to do for the outside” said an authoritative voice that made him want to salute. “If you can’t code your security system well enough to keep my little sister out then you shouldn’t be messing with this.”

Losing his chasers, who were indeed worryingly close to the planet he had refugied on, was easier than expected. The mechanics he consulted on base nearly pounced on the modification sheet his mysterious helpers had left behind once he described their appearance to them. Apparently, anything that passed through a Vagabond hands, especially the eldest, tended to end up working even better than before. Any pilot whose belongings were modified by a member of the group was strongly encouraged to share them long enough for the more tech oriented people to be confident that they could reproduce the results on other pieces of gear.

Sometimes, when understanding how the mods were done took too long and left everyone baffled, a Jedi, usually psychometric if there was one of those around, and wasn’t that wild all by itself, would show up to see what the fuss was about. Then the space wizard would put their hands over everything the Vagabonds had had access to in search of more information. Then, as if they hadn’t just crawled in some of the tightest spots of a ship, that someone who was always either called General or Commander by the dechipped clones, would primly give a report about what they found before running off to do whatever Force Sensitives people did when they weren’t swinging a lightsaber around for the Republic.

He was still wondering how the hell they had sliced their way in. Being told that “she thought this was way easier than getting to the prize in the last puzzle box” wasn’t a helpful description.


	28. Holocrons

While all of them used the Force and crystals in varying proportions, historically there were two main ways of making a holocron. 

The most popular, and the most modern, was to take a specialized learning AI and talk to it as if it was an interactive journal. Given enough time, it would result in the closest possible technological equivalent of someone's mind. It probably originated from mind healing methods since similar, though less advanced software, could usually be found in the hands of psychologists and their patients. 

The oldest, also considered the most 'dangerous', was to make an Imprint of all your memories on suitable crystal. Many Masters and Knights of old had repurposed their lightsaber kyber for such purpose toward the end of their years of service. Others had layered less powerful, but still appropriate material as support instead. Quite a few Sith had used holocrons made with this method, as well as other Artifacts, as an anchor to stop themselves from moving on and becoming one with the Force after their death. 

Anakin didn't have any of those particular specialized learning AI in stock, but he didn't think his padawans would terribly mind if he was somehow still around after his heart stopped beating. Even if it didn't come to this scenario, he still liked the thought of his Lineage being able to know, or at least get a good idea, of what his Presence was like long after he was gone.

They were Force Sensitives, people Signatures were an integral part of how they remembered those they met in person. It was one thing to get a description of someone's personality, it was another to be able to perceive echoes of it.

But Knights and Masters weren't the only ones with things to teach. His padawans didn't learn everything from him and their knowledge deserved to be preserved as well. Could a communal holocron be possible with their resources?

The Great Holocron of the Jedi Order apparently never revealed the secrets of its creation, but it isn't like the Coruscanti Temple needed a second one either. Maybe combining the shards of synthetic crystal his students had managed to create to make it receptive to multiple Jedi? They were too little to build a lightsaber with them, but that didn't mean they couldn't serve other uses. 

Intent mattered a lot while doing Manipulations, maybe a joint meditation could be used to harmonize the pieces enough to work together inside the device? If it failed they could still visit Yoda again as long as they spaced the trips enough to not bring suspicions on Dagobah. If nothing else it would be a balm for the old Jedi heart and a joyous occasion for the children.

  
  



	29. Snatched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to tinker-brows and Trudemaethion on the Discord server for their help determining Quinlan's nicknames!

What a profitable few weeks for the Great Hondo Ohnaka!

It began when his little treasures spotted his dear friend Obi-Wan Kenobi in a Vision concerning one of their business ventures! 

Then his favorite ginger haired criminal volunteered to help teach his underage employees in exchange for a lift out of his precarious situation! So many damaged ships! If he hadn't known better than to ask, he would have asked where Anakin Skywalker was!

Of course, he couldn't just directly bring him to the closest Rebel base! That wouldn't be safe! Certainly, his guest wouldn't mind accompanying them to meet a talented Forger the irritatingly interesting Quinlan Vos had heard about? Especially since he could use the longer travel time to fit in more classes for the young ones!

Those days had been something to behold! Had he not known better, he would almost have called his little treasures civilized law abiding people! Almost! His glorious little pirates repeatedly brought down a Jedi Master all on their own! The Negotiator, rendered unconscious by the power of the mighty cuddle pile! Hondo had the holos to prove it! Not that he would sell them, these were rare and highly illegal collector items these days! Such beautiful trophies must be kept preciously!

How kind of Vos to convince Kenobi to help them win outrageous amounts of money and other odds and ends at Sabacc! How nice of them to teach the young ones how to use the Force to cheat at card games! Truly, the Order could have made a terrifying criminal syndicate had they wanted to do so!

What a colorful and original ship the Forger had! Its reputation of being easy to recognise absolutely anywhere and everywhere was more than well earned! The Great Hondo Ohnaka's eyes would never be able to forget such a bright sight! 

"Obi-Wan, my dear friend! Why such a face? Is one of your bonds bothering you? Oh, this? This is The Vagabond, the home of the wonderful craftsman I told you about! I heard that he has even more children than me in there! He is quite well recommended by both Mandalorian and Rebel sources for his custom work! Do you know of him as well? Of course we will stay a while if we can! My crew wrote an extensive list of needful things that must be specially made for them to work at their best! Why did you think those Sabacc games were so important? Such services are hardly going to be free!"


	30. Hugs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to AlabasterInk on the Discord server who helped me with this chapter!

Obi-Wan barely felt it when they landed. Anakin was so close that there was no need to concentrate to pinpoint in which direction he was. Their Bond, usually muffled by whole systems worth of distance these days, was as clear as a bell. Next to him, a confused Quinlan, his Shadow training be blessed, was unable to perceive much beyond forty-nine particularly excited children and two adults.

The Vagabonds were already waiting for them when the ramp of Hondo's ship lowered. 

Seeing them all in full make-up was strange, especially with the true strength of their Presence hidden. While the youngests' face paints were obviously childish decorations, the motifs grew in elegance, sophistication and precision with the age of their bearers. 

Hidden scar aside, Anakin's face was a striking mix of gold, bronze and honey that, coupled with his blue indigo clothes, gave him a softer and warmer apparence. He certainly no longer passed as a Jedi General. He actually looked his true age for once.

Held tight in his brother's arms, so much stronger now thanks to regular meals and rest, Obi-Wan felt all his worries evaporate like water under a desert sun. Around them, children from both crews mingled, recognized each other, laughed, and did group hugs after group hugs. An increasingly flustered Hondo kept getting thanked over and over again while an ecstatic Quinlan was swarmed with little ones who fondly remembered him from their crèche days.

For the first time in years, Obi-Wan fully opened his side of the Bond and let his old Padawan take care of the shielding. No one even bothered to try to separate them, and Obi-Wan stayed put long enough that the number of minutes it lasted for was probably closer to double digits than not. 

Through a hug, a hand on a shoulder, the Force, staying nearby or just keeping his eyes on him, Obi-Wan stayed close to Anakin one way or another the whole day.

And what a day it was!

Putting faces on the grandpadawans that he had first learned about through the beads in their Master's hair. Helping prepare the communal meals and singing along with the others. Being proudly shown his Lineage Dance by dozens of young faces at the same time. Laughing at Quinlan's face when his own students begged to be allowed to learn the moves he only ever taught to Ayla before. Listening to the many, many stories told during tea time. Taking part in the shared meditations. Falling asleep in a cuddle pile during nap time. Talking to Lady Va, the droids and the holocrons. Realising he had lost his cloak only to find it freshly reprised. Witnessing Anakin barter goods and negotiate prices like an expert with Hondo. Sharing a sinfully comfortable nest of pillows and blankets for the night.

The next day was even better.

Waking up surrounded by the Light Side of the Force, with his head on his brother's chest, able to hear his heartbeat as well as his respiration and their Bond still wide open. Feeling everyone Presences progressively wake up. Getting jumped on by hyper excited children who were so glad to get the confirmation that yesterday wasn't a dream. 

Eating a filling and flavorful breakfast instead of another ration bar. Being able to take his time savoring each mouthful, all while basking in the ambiance created by people genuinely looking forward to what the next twenty-four hours would bring. Looking forward to it himself.

Being tugged around each room in The Vagabond, along with Quinlan, both always with a child in their arms telling them the origins and uses of everything inside. Experiencing said uses for themselves.

Learning to know his grandpadawans through the many games at their dispositions. Betting embarrassing stories instead of money or favors for the first time in a long, long while. Laughing to the point of having trouble breathing. 

Taking a good look through the Knowledge Room database and the homemade training modules. Updating some of the existing entries and creating new ones on subjects that weren't already covered. Recording what was directly available as well as an overview of the holocrons teachings so that Jocasta might ready a few datasticks worth of information on what should be the most useful to the crew among what was missing.

Observing Anakin use Force Manipulations while teaching his oldest students how to craft high quality custom made gear from the raw materials they now had on hand. Feeling him at work in a Forge that was so stepped in his Signature that it positively sang with it. 

Hearing a thoroughly impressed Hondo commission more custom work and establish a payment scale and a list of preferred stolen goods for future transactions like a seasoned professional in front of another was an eye opening experience.

He tried to not think too hard about how different their lives had become and simply enjoy the present like Qui-Gon would have wanted him to. Though not as diplomatic and culturally knowledgeable, Padmé and the former Chancellor oblige ~~(he was nine years old, how dare that monster even go near him, don't think about it, don't think about it, don't...)~~ , it was actually his Padawan who used to have the most political connections in the Senate out of the both of them and Obi-Wan whose friends tended to live in the criminal underworld. 

While his brother would have been an asset to the Rebels, looking at what the young man had created for all these children, he couldn't help but be fiercely glad that, by the will of what was left of the Council, no Jedi had breathed a word of the Vagabonds true identities beyond Hondo and the Order's own ranks. 

The defunct Republic took so much from Ahsoka and the other war padawans, the new one they were working to bring around wouldn't get the chance to touch the rest of his Lineage if he could make it otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin has his natural skin tone under the make-up. Think of motifs like the ones on venetian masks. So if he is in a hurry he can use stencils for himself and the children. If you want a better idea of the colors he favor for himself, this is what I used as references: https://colorpalettes.net/tag/bronze/


End file.
